How to quickly level your camper side to side and front to back in ten minutes, no gimmicks!
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2024
- With so many new campers on the roads this summer, I continue to hear this question, and continue to see people struggle at the campgrounds. While I am using Lynx Levers and X chocks, you can do the same thing (and we have for years) with 2x6 wood planks and plastic or rubber chocks if you're starting out (but the chocks and the levers are worth the small investment in convenience and performance). This isn't the only way to do it, by far, but its a great starting point and includes stuff I've picked up over the years. Hope this helps!
Lynx levers:
www.amazon.com/Tri-Lynx-00015...
X chocks:
www.amazon.com/X-Chock-Wheel-...
2/4 way bubble level:
www.amazon.com/Hopkins-Towing...
1 way stick on level:
www.amazon.com/Camco-25503-Ut... - Zábava
I have to say, you did great with explaining how to line up the leveling blocks, but when it comes to those jacks? They are called Stabilizing Jacks. The stabilize the unit, not meant for levelling. If you're going to lift the side on the plastic levelers with the stabilizing jacks, why use the plastic levelers in the first place. Level with the plastic lego pieces, then STABILIIZE with the STABILIZING jacks. Be safe, have fun!
What do you think stabilizing is? It’s lifting the vehicle to take the weight off the springs. The jacks don’t know or care if you’re lifting one side a little more than the other. People get really bent out of shape about that part, not sure they understand exactly what’s going on there. The tires don’t leave the ground, and on this camper the jacks aren’t strong enough to lift the camper off the ground anyway. All it’s doing it’s taking up a little more slack to get that spring out while parked. Thanks for the comment though.
They do say that but those types of jacks are used for jacking purposes so they will take some weight. I personally would have put another row of blocks down to get it closer but I doubt he is hurting anything by doing what he did.
Drewdoestrucks I agree with Richard, you are using the stabilizers to lift the trailer on its suspension . The last two trailers I have owned specifically says not to do this in the manuals because you are putting too much strain on the frame. Do all your leveling with blocks under the tires and then just snug down the stabilizers to keep the trailer from rocking. If you do any lifting by unloading the suspension you are putting too much strain on the frame. On my first trailer if I over-tightened the stabilizers the frame would flex to the point that a gap developed between the stove and counter. Use the stabilizers to create a firm base but not unload the suspension to level the trailer. I realize you have it figured out and will do it your way, I’m just trying to help others not make the same mistake.
@@fastdude2002 the stabilizers are designed to lift weight off the suspension. their purpose is to take the springiness out of the springs so you’re not bouncing around. If you aren’t taking weight off the suspension then you’re not stabilizing. I’m not lifting the camper. The tires are staying firmly on the ground. Do what feels right for you, but there’s nothing I’ve ever read that says not to use stabilizers to take weight off the suspension. They are nothing more than glorified versions of the spare tire Jack found in every passenger car since 1980. The entire system is so simple that I’m very surprised that so many people think there’s some voodoo to it. If you are folding the frame of the camper using the stabilizer jacks, 1) you’ve clearly overdone it, and 2) you probably have structural issues unrelated to stabilizer jacks.
Good point about marking your front tire. My owners manual says to never raise your camper with the stabilizing jacks. It says once they touch the blocks to only turn one more complete turn to snug them up.
Thats unfortunately not gonna take any weight off your suspension and will result in a very bouncy camping experience, especially if you have kids "sleeping" in the other end of the camper. Please note we are NOT raising the camper off the wheels, which is what most manufacturers forbid. Simply unloading the suspension a little more on one side than the other. This works for us and has for years.
Thank you for showing the technique and explaining why you're doing what you're doing each step of the way. Good idea of marking in the ground where you want your front tire to roll back to, and also aligning the levelers beside the tires on the camper and using the tire tracks to set them exactly where they need to be.
Stabilizer are made to stabilize your trailer, not to leveling your trailer. Other than that very informative video. Like the idea of marking the ground when leveling
I’ve address this in other comments. Very common misconception. We aren’t lifting the wheels here. Well within the manufacturer’s instructions for these jacks. They are jacks, they are made to lift weight, and how you lift that weight is going to unload the suspension and also move the camper depending on how evenly you adjust them. Been doing this for years and not one failed component. Even if you somehow broke a stabilizing jack, they are less than $50 to replace. Thanks for the comment.
Correct - not load bearing… could damage the frame …
Thank you so much 😊 you are brilliant, I learned a lot from you, Retired Disabled Combat Veteran, 7 years US Army 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you for your thorough instructions. I appreciate the explanations for "why" some things are done, too👍🏼
Very nice. Thanks for sharing.
Super informative! Good work man...😀
Good video. I like the idea of putting a ratchet strap on the steps. I might try that.
what a great video...Im am brand new , first used smaller trailer 19 to learn. This will help a lot!!
Thank you! You make it easy and calm….
Camping should be fun! I’m there to relax as much as possible.
We'll explained. Thank you
Awesome. Ty
Great video! Very good Idea, I will be trying it. Question. What is the exhaust pipe sticking out of the front left comer of the camper?
It’s the exhaust for my onan 3k microquiet generator, which has not been very reliable and therefore doesn’t really get used.
They are stabilizing jacks not leveling jacks. Those types of jacks are not meant to raise and take the weight of the unit like that.
I’ve already address this common myth in the other comments. Stabilizing requires taking weight off the suspension, and that is why they installed jacks for that purpose. They are not made to lift the wheels off the ground but they are intended to bear weight to stabilize the unit. They can, indeed, be used to slightly adjust the level of the unit and in fact myself and many others have been doing this for many years with no ill effect. I encourage you to try it.
@@drewdoestrucksyou just barely lift. You don’t raise like you are saying
so if the stabilizers aren't to be used to level out trailer(as many people advice) then how do you level it out???
You do just what he did, you place leveling blocks or slabs of wood under the trailer tires. Stabilizers are designed to prevent rocking back and forth when moving around inside the trailer. Hence the name "stabilizer jack" and not "leveling jack". Although there are leveling jacks that are designed to level.
I need to go up 10 inches, permanent site... would you use these blocks?, gravel as base.
Eh I mean any plastic is subject to uv degradation. I think for a permanent site I’d want to use some sort of solid base like structural cement pavers or pressure treated wood that was fastened together mechanically.
I tried those bubble level things. There are difference between the frame, floor and cabinets. I level using the floor.
I have used the blocks before but years back, I switched to Anderson levelers. They are so much quicker.
Is your Anderson levelers the deluxe version that’s approximately $230.00. I was thinking of purchasing.
Thanks in advance for your time.
We went from a 44foot diesel pusher tax axle motorhome to a travel trailer. God Bless
I recently saw a video that did the same thing to their steps but they removed the guts from the box and added a door, they added a bit more storage?! 😉
They sell door kits specifically for that but they are rather expensive for what they are, and you can’t access them with the stairs down!
I use a jack with a drill then slide the blocks 😊
The drill works better than the impact, I just happen to have that spare impact. Mostly because the drill is quieter.
How can I level my 5th wheel front without a rig to move it?
Use the leveling jacks?
Them stabilizer will not take any force forward and aft , so not put too much pressure on the or the trailer could go for a ride
That’s why you chock the wheels first. I always leave the camper hooked up to the truck until there’s chocks down. Having said that, with five jacks down including the tongue jack, there’s little chance of it going anywhere on our average camping site, which tend to be fairly level.
things have changed so much since this was made. Remote level monitors and the new curved levelers make trailer leveling simple. Lippart trailer frame suppliers say to NEVER use X - Chocks as a regular wheel chock. They actually recommend leveling your camper BEFORE installing the X- Chocks to prevent axle warping. They areconly designed to minimize the rocking motion in your camper, not to chock your wheels. Never EVER use an impct driver on your stabilizers, this will strip the worm gears. Never use your stabilizers as jacks. Never try and lift your frame with them. If your camper is not level, use more stacking blocks, plywood ,anything but the stabilizers.
I haven’t used the curved levelers but I see them misused in campgrounds all the time because people don’t seem to understand what an equalizer is or how it works. A remote level monitor is only gonna tell you when you’re level; you’ll still have to understand how this works to get it there. They are expensive and from people I’ve talked to, have connection issues. I don’t need complicated stuff when it comes to setting up. The x chocks work fine as regular chocks without damage to the suspension but they work by applying force to the tires so of course they will recommend you don’t use them because I’m sure there have been doorknobs who have spread them until they bent shackles and u bolts. They always have to play to the least intelligent person who will use their products. The impact driver I use is a 25 year old ryobi that’s useless for anything else. I’ve used it for years without stripping anything. It has less power than a modern brushless drill, which I sometimes also use. Either way again some common senses goes a long way. A tool powerful enough to break a bolt loose will also strip a gear. Having said that, I’ve had bent stabilizers in the past. I’ve caught them on curbs. I’ve even welded them to other things to use as jacks. I’ve used brushless drills and impacts and I’ve yet to strip a work gear. Fortunately the jacks are about $30 and 2 bolts to change should that ever happen. Finally, the “you can’t use stabilizers to lift the camper” thing has been so thoroughly addressed in the other commons I am surprised it’s being brought up again. These are camper jacks. Nothing more nothing less. They provide lift to take the flex out of the suspension. They do this by lifting up on the camper. The camper has a frame designed to flex and that frame flexes a lot during regular driving around. If you’ve managed to twist the camper frame by applying very uneven force with the jacks, you’ll know pretty quickly when the doors don’t open and etc. again, a tiny ounce of common sense goes a long way here. Understanding the use of these components includes understanding how they work. Many newer campers have self leveling as an option. The hydraulic landing gear are mounted in the same spots as the manual camper jacks, yet you still continually hear people say “but you can’t use the manual jacks to level the camper…” either way the best result is to get the camper near level before you use the stabilizers to take the flex out of the suspension. It really doesn’t matter if you take a little more flex out of one side than the other. I encourage people to make their own videos using $200 remote level monitors and $100’s of dollars in fancy levelers if that’s what they want. Let people watch both videos and choose for themselves. I’ve been doing it this way for many years and I did it with pine 2x6’s from Home Depot cut into 18” pieces for a long time before I bought the fancy orange plastic blocks. Having said that, they do work better.
Hit auto level all done son 😮
It’s not an option on most travel trailers, and it’s actually several thousand dollars to add.
If you used a full lvl you could measure with it and see how many of your blocks you need then you don’t have to mess with your stabilizers good video tho
Ideally the campgrounds have spots level side to side. There’s a plethora of apps and digital accessories around these days. Unfortunately it’s always a bit of a guessing game as the suspension will eat up some of the block. I’ve got better at it but there’s still times I have had to readjust.
Yeah thats great but what about a fifth wheel thats already parked and no way to move it.
Most fifth wheels have self leveling jacks, but otherwise I’d jack it up at the u bolt plates and add levelers to the tires until it was level?
Hillbillies at the local trailer park always carry a tire gauge with a chain attached to their belt to level their home .
I feel like there’s a joke here that I didn’t get.
Never take the weight off the tires
You take the weight off the springs. Not the tires.
X-chocks shouldn't be installed prior to disconnecting and front/back leveling.
Why’s that? Do you think the distance from tire to tire is gonna change? The good part is they are adjustable if it does.
Why would that take you 10 minutes? I carry a 6 foot level. When I pull into a site I put the level on the back bumper of the trailer. With my trailer I know that one side of the trailer drop 3/4 inch on the side with two slides so I compensate for that. In seconds I know what size board I need and if it needs to be on the right, or left side. When I first purchased the trailer I put my 6 foot level on the floor in the middle of the trailer and used the tongue jack to get it perfecly level and then I put bubble levels on the door side in the front of the trailer. The leveling process takes me less than 5 minutes. Don't over think it.
If you think you can set a 37’ camper up from pulling in to level and ready to camp in 5 minutes I’d love to see it. 😂 the good part is it’s free to upload videos. Make a video showing this magic method.
Those are not to raise R.V. there stabilize
Hmm, tell me how you stabilize with them if not by raising the rv?
The slowest, most cumbersome, most over-involved RV leveling video I've seen yet and I've watched dozens of them...
Thanks for the view.
What it does is twist the frame, don't do this folks.
If this twisted the frame then simply using the stabilizer jacks would twist the frame. There is no magic here. These are jacks. Lifting one side of the camper, evenly, is well within both the jack and the camper frame’s limits. The camper will tell you when the frame is twisted: doors won’t open, things bind. The camper frame is actually made to flex and certainly does so going down the road.